June 17, 2008

AFX Coachella set [Aphex Twin]

One of my favorite 'artist images' ever; this is from AFX's official site at warprecords.com and has been up for years

The Aphex Twin fans in the picture above do not look like they are having a lot of fun. This image made me somewhat terrified to ever see Aphex Twin live, even if I had the chance. There are other stories floating out there, like how some fancy New York club paid him loads of money to play a gig, and he got up on stage and put a microphone in a blender for 20 minutes. Aphex is a true joker, but how would it feel to have the joke played on you? Not very pleasant I'd guess.

When I came across a recording of his set at this year's Coachella festival I figured it would be worth checking out, if only to see how brutal it might be. Turns out it's actually pretty listenable, especially for the first 25 minutes. Even after he starts bringing in harder drum and bass stuff it's still good, at least to my ears. (The first transition from soft to hard is rough, but it gets better.) He stars it off with Public Enemy and Run-DMC! Full respect, I'll definitely check Aphex out if I get the chance... not like I wouldn't have anyway though.

EDIT: I was way too restrained with my praise for this mix. It is AWESOME, best played loud, and will only get better the more you listen to it.

I never seen Aphex live, but this image reminds me of a CMJ show I heard about in 1998: Merzbow vs. Alec Empire. I was actually in town seeing the Grand Royal showcase (bis, buffalo daughter), but I can't imagine the pain that must have gone on for those that were there (at CBGBs)

I Saw Aphex Twin this year, on the 4th of April. It was BRUTAL.After 2 hours of awesome acid/techno, the visuals were replaced by autopsies of transexuals and sickening scat porn.Nobody danced, nobody leaved..You werent sure why you were still looking at the screen, while the most gruesome noise was coming out of the speakers at 120 dB.......It took about 25-30 minutes till the promotor pulled the plug out.